Goals & Objectives
Business Case
Is there a detailed business justification for the proposed change with clearly articulated objectives and benefits (both quantitative and qualitative), cost, effort and timescale projections? Does the business case consider different options for achieving the objectives and benefits including a “do nothing” option?
Stakeholder Management
Who are the key stakeholder groups (internal and external) who will benefit from, be impacted by or have influence on the project? How will each group’s interests in the project be determined, represented and managed? How will the different stakeholders of the project be kept appraised of progress, impact and any important decisions needed in a timely manner throughout the life of the project?
Project Scope
Is there a clear definition of the boundaries of the proposed change project which identifies what is inside scope and what is outside scope and any assumptions this is based on?
Project Measures
Have the key outcomes (end results) required from the project been identified. Have key indicators (early warnings) been identified to allow assessment at regular intervals whether the key outcomes are on target for being achieved? Is there a plan to track and report on benefits realisation over the stated timescales (which may extend beyond the end of the project)?
Planning & Tracking
Project Oversight
Are there structures, roles, meetings and reporting mechanisms for managing the oversight and steering of the project? Does the project have clearly identified and meaningful milestones written acceptance criteria and requiring formal approval before moving on to the next stage?
Operational Management
How will detailed project plans, estimates and schedules be created, monitored, adjusted, reported and shared? How will changes to the project be captured, prioritised, assessed and accommodated?
How will risks be identified, assessed and mitigated throughout the life of the project? How will this information be reviewed, updated and shared?
Budget Management
How will project costs (internal and external) be tracked and reviewed against plans? What mechanisms are in place to connect effort and cost expended with project value delivered?
Project Team Management
Project Meetings
What capabilities are in place to encourage the team to run effective meetings including Operational Meetings, Strategy / Problem-Solving Meetings and Relationship / Trust-Building Meetings? What Virtual Meeting / Phone Meeting practices and skills are in place to ensure that meetings are equally effective whether run in-situ or virtually or a hybrid of the two?
Alignment & Accountability
How will team members be kept aligned with the objectives and values of the team? How will each team member know what they are being counted on for and what they can count on their colleagues for?
Team Communications
How will the team members be enabled to communicate effectively with each other with particular reference to Open Communications, Conflict Resolution, Decision-Making and Information-sharing?
Team Support Systems
How will you ensure that the right relationships and supporting processes and systems are in place between team members to foster experience sharing, learning and prevention of potential problems before they occur?
Project Communications
Change Narrative
Is there a concise and compelling rationale for the change which addresses the “why, when, who, what, how and why now” of the proposed change which is meaningful to each of the key stakeholder groups? How will you ensure this narrative is updated as required based on project experience?
Change Strategy
What are the likely key impacts of the project on the different stakeholder groups? How will any negative stakeholder impacts be minimised? How will each stakeholder group be consulted and bought-in to the project? How will the stakeholders’ understanding of and commitment to the success of the project be achieved? Will the project follow a recognised Change Management approach?
Communications Plan
Is there a plan for how key stakeholders communities will be kept informed about the change project which also covers how different channels/media (email, video, face to face, intranet, meetings etc) can be most efficiently used to keep everyone in the loop?
Project Reporting
What reports will be produced at summary and detail level for the team and all interested parties? Will these reports cover the key project elements such as benefits, costs, timescales, budgets and issues?